Transforming Wellness: Rethinking the Norm

What does it mean to be well? Think about that for a minute. Wellness, health, mental health, physical health. What's our north star? The thing we're pursuing, the thing we're telling ourselves, is what will finally be enough, enough for life to be. Be worth living, to find value in who I am and what I'm capable of. My name is Eric. I'm a clinical counselor with a passion for creating a space where mental health information, tools, and change is accessible and affordable. And I come to you with this question of, what does it mean to be well?

Because I assume that you're on this app for that very reason. What does that mean? What does that look like for me? And often we don't take the time to stop and really look at that question, what is wellness? We grab onto what we assume others have found in their lives to lead to wellness. Or maybe we can build ourselves and our circumstances to the lives of others and say, well, that must be wellness, because they seem like they're doing pretty good. And I imagine that that same exact person is looking over in another direction, doing the same exact thing.

We kind of been brought up into this perspective that wellness means that I exist without turmoil, without pain, without difficulty, without discomfort. That I can finally extinguish the really bad, negative, ugly thoughts that exist within me and replace those with happy, amazing feelings about who I am and how I fit in this world. And I'm here to offer an alternative perspective, an alternative perspective that says, maybe wellness is found not apart from those things existing, but rather in our attention, focusing on actual change, things we can actually do in our lives the way we want to live them.

In other words, creating space between our mind and our emotions and who we are as people. And that if you're anything like me, you've been on a journey that's taken a lot of twists and turns, a lot of different places where you thought wellness would be found, only to find that those same thoughts and feelings are still alive, still there. How much power do we let the idea that maybe I'm not good enough dictate the decisions that we make? How much influence does the idea that if only this thing happened, then my life would be okay, how much do we let that choose for us, the life that we want to live?

And so come along with me if you're curious about what it looks like to, rather than fight and pull and try to extinguish those parts of ourselves that after so much turmoil, still remain the same and look towards maybe a different direction, one that's a little bit more flexible and maybe, just maybe reframes an idea of wellness that's achievable and spurs on real change in your life and the way you see your life. I'm really excited to be here and invite you to join me on this journey. And if this is something that intrigues you, welcome.

And if not, you're also welcome. Maybe this idea brings up some frustration for you or maybe concern or maybe, who knows? And that's okay. I encourage you to stick along for at least a couple more videos and just see if there's something in the weeds here that connects with you, that opens an idea, even if it's an uncomfortable one. Let's take a step on this journey of wellness together and where that takes us from there, you know, who knows? But I imagine that there's a place here that we can connect, be on the same page, and intentionally make some movement in a direction that can be life changing.

I look forward to seeing you there.